Blue Bottle unveils bottled iced coffees

James Freeman says he’s always wanted to have some Blue Bottle products in a nice grocery store, but he always cringed at the thought of good beans withering away on shelves for too long. His solution: For the past year or so, he’s been working on a Blue Bottle iced coffee to sell … in bottles (!).

He’s finally got it, and as of this week, Blue Bottle’s two iced coffees — Kyoto and New Orleans — are available in bottled form (see above) at the Ferry Building shop and Oakland’s Webster Street roastery. They’re launching it now during these winter months as a sort of test run; if it goes well, they’ll have enough time to ramp it up on a bigger scale come the spring and summer months.

Let’s talk coffee: Both are cold-brewed and there is no heat at any point in the process, just like the iced coffees offered at the shops, and use the exact same ingredients. They were brewed at St. George spirits and then bottled and pasteurized near the roastery, so as Freeman puts it, “it’s an Oakland product.”